Clothespin



March 17, 1942. J. DUFFEK 2,276,377

CLOTHESPIN Filed Jan. 11, 1941 Patented Mar. 17, 1942 r OFFICECLOTHESPIN Joseph Duffek, Gloversville, N. Y. Application January 11,1941, Serial No. 374,091

3 Claims.

My invention relates to clothespins and particularly to an improved typeof wire clothespin which may be readily attached to or detached from theclothesline, which cannot accidently be disengaged therefrom, which canbe positioned to move freely along the line but which, when in use as asupport for clothes to be dried, can be easily anchored or securedagainst sliding along the line.

It has heretofore been proposed to form clothespins of wire, most ofwhich are complicated in form and many of which require a special typeof line for use therewith in order to prevent sliding of the pins on theline.

The principal objects of my invention are to provide a wire clothespinhaving the features above set forth, which is extremely simple inconstruction and which is preferably formed of stainless steel or otherequivalent corrosion-resisting metal or metal alloy such, for example,as Monel. I attain these objects by forming my clothespin as describedbelow and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which- Fig. 1 is anelevation view of the pin showing the clothesline in cross section; and

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary elevation View showing a slight modification.

Referring to the drawing, l represents the pin generally which ispreferably formed of a single length of stainless steel or othercorrosion-resisting alloy wire. 2 is a cross section of the clothesline.In the relative positions shown in the drawing the pin may be movedfreely along the wire. 2' illustrates in dotted outline the crosssection of the clothes-line in wedged engagement with the pin so thatthe pin is secured against sliding along the line. My pin comprises anelongated shank portion 3, an upper end portion 4 and a lower endportion 5. The lower end portion 5 is bent, about the point 6, backalong the shank into close proximity therewith, as shown at l, to form aclothes-engaging hook, while the other end portion of the wire is bentback along the shank about the point 8 to form a line-engaging loop 9.In the zone Hi the sides of the loop 9 are spaced apart a distancepreferably somewhat greater than the diameter of the line 2 so that whenthe line is positioned in this zone of the loop the pin may be slidfreely therealong. From the zone 10 the sides of the loop 9 convergeboth toward the closed end of the loop 8, as shown at I l and alsotowards the open end of the loop, as shown at [2, until the spacebetween the sides of the loop, in either case, is substantially lessthan the diameter of the line. Thus, by

merely pulling the hook down on the line the line may be wedged in theupper portion of the loop, as shown at 2', and by pushing the pin up onthe line it may be removed therefrom by squeezing the line through thepassage l3; it being understood that the wire is of proper gauge andstiffness so that the sides of the loop about the passage I3 may yieldslightly to permit the passage of the line therethrough. The extreme endof that portion of the wire which is bent back in close proximity withthe shank in order to form a clothes-engaging hook preferably divergesfrom the shank to provide a tapered passage [4 in which a corner of theclothes to be supported by the pin may be easily guided into the hook.In order to avoid sharp points at the ends of the wire they arepreferably curled over, as shown at l5 and I6.

In order to provide proper resiliency both in the line-engaging loop andin the clothes-engaging hook without exceeding the elastic limit of thewire, I prefer to make the bends at the end of the shank about adiameter at least as large as the diameter of the wire, as shown at IIin Fig. 1 and I8 in Fig. 2.

In order to facilitate the entrance of the line into the line-engagingloop I prefer to bend outwardly the extremity of the wire at the openinginto the loop as shown at I9 and also to bend the shank in a directionaway from the end I9, as shown at 20, and thereafter to bend the shank,as shown at 2 i, to bring the bottom of the clothesengaging hook on avertical line through the center of the line-engaging loop.

From the foregoing it will be'apparent that I have provided a verysimple and eiiicient form of wire clothespin which is cheap tomanufacture and which can be used with any type of line, either wire orrope.

One of the other great advantages of my clothespin resides in the factthat it need. never be removed from the line and since it cannot beaccidentally disengaged therefrom it is always in place when needed.

What I claim is:

1. A clothespin formed of a length of resilient wire and comprising ashank portion intermediate the ends of said Wire, one end portion ofsaid wire being bent back into close proximity to said shank to formtherewith a clothes-engaging hook, and the other end portion of saidwire being bent back along but in spaced relation to said shank to formtherewith a line-engaging loop; the sides of said loop being spaced fromeach other in one zone of said loop to form an-opening providingsubstantially free passage for a clothesline therethrough but convergingfrom said opening towards the adjacent end of said shank portion untilthe space between, them is substantially less than the diameter of saidline, and also towards the adjacent free end of said wire to provide arestricted opening through which the line may be forcibly passed;whereby said pin may be secured against sliding on said line by wedgingsaid line between the converging sides of said loop, and also readilyattached to or removed from said line.

2. A clothespin formed of a length of resilient, corrosion-resistingwire and comprising a shank portion intermediate the ends of said wire,one end portion of said wire being bent back into close proximity tosaid shank adjacent the point of bend and thereafter diverging from saidshank to form therewith a clothes-engaging hook, and the other endportion of said wire being bent back along said shank to form therewitha lineengaging loop; the sides of said loop being spaced from each otherin a zone intermediate the adjacent end of said wire and the adjacentend of said shank to form an opening providing substantially freepassage of said line therethrough, whereby said pin may be slid freelyalong said line when said line is disposed in said zone; and the sidesof said loop thereafter converging towards the adjacent end of saidshank and also towards the adjacent end of the wire to reduce the clearspace between them at either side of said zone to substantially lessthan the diameter of said line; whereby said pin may be secured againstsliding on said line by wedging said line between the converging sidesof said loop at the top thereof, and readily attached to or removed fromsaid line by forcing it between the spaced sides of said loop at thebottom thereof.

3. A clothespin formed of a length of resilient Wire and comprising ashank portion intermediate the ends of said wire, one end portion ofsaid wire being bent back into close proximity to said shank to form aclothes-engaging hook, and the other end portion of said wire being bentto form with said shank an elongated, line-engaging loop open at one endand into which said line may be forcibly passed through the openingthereto; said loop in one zone thereof providing substantially freepassage therethrough for said line, whereby said pin may be moved freelyalong said line, and the sides of said loop converging from said zonetowards the closed end of said loop, whereby to form a line-engagingzone into which said line may be wedged to prevent free movement of saidpin along said line.

JOSEPH DUFFEK.

